DARK CAMPUS

Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3: Breaking the Rule

Several days passed, and slowly the initial shock began to fade. The rules felt less like warnings

and more like something I simply accepted as part of my daily routine. But then one evening,

after everyone else had hurried away from the building, I realized I'd left my notebook in the

classroom. The sun had already dipped below the horizon, painting the sky in deep shades of

purple and gray, and the school was growing dark. I hesitated at the door, my hand resting on

the handle, remembering Mia's warning — don't look at the windows when it's dark. Something

about those words had stayed with me, a persistent knot of unease in my stomach.

But curiosity and the thought of losing my notes got the better of me. I pushed the door open

and stepped inside. The room looked different at night — longer shadows stretched across the

floor, and the moonlight filtering through the heavy curtains created strange, shifting patterns

on the walls. I grabbed my notebook from my desk, but before I could leave, something drew my

eyes to the large glass pane beside me. The curtain had slipped slightly, revealing a small portion of the window. I told myself to walk away, that Mia was just trying to scare me, but my

feet moved of their own accord. I walked over and pulled the fabric aside, peering outside.

At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary — just the school grounds bathed in pale moonlight,

the trees swaying gently in the night breeze. But then something moved in the corner of my

reflection. It wasn't my reflection anymore. Long, shadowy fingers pressed against the glass

from the outside, stretching toward me, slender and inhuman. They didn't belong to anyone

standing before the window — they seemed to emerge from the darkness itself. I gasped,

stumbling backward, my heart slamming against my ribs like a trapped bird. My notebook fell

from my hands, pages fluttering open.

The door swung open. Professor Lux stood there, framed by the dim hallway light, casting a long

shadow that stretched all the way across the classroom floor. He didn't look surprised to find me

there alone at night. He looked as if he'd been waiting for this exact moment.

"You looked," he said. There was no anger in his voice — only fascination, as if I'd done

something remarkable rather than something incredibly foolish.

"I — I didn't mean to —" I stammered, my breath coming in short, panicked gasps, unable to tear

my eyes away from the window where the shadow had vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

He walked toward me, his movements fluid and silent, his footsteps making no sound on the

wooden floor. "No one has ever done that and walked away before," he whispered, stopping just

inches from me, close enough that I could see the flecks of darker gold within his irises. "But

you... you are different, Iyanna."